HSBC has posted a fall in annual pre-tax profits of 62%.
The bank’s shares, which are traded in Hong Kong, fell 3% on the news.
Pre-tax profit totalled $7.1bn in 2016, compared to $18.9bn a year earlier. Analysts had predicted profit of $14.4bn.
HSBC completed a $2.5bn share buy-back following its sale of operations in Brazil.
It now expects to deliver annualised cost savings of around $6bn by the end of 2017, around $1bn above the top end of its original target, while continuing to invest in regulatory programmes and compliance. It says it will invest an equivalent total of around $6bn over the same timeframe.
Douglas Flint, HSBC group chairman, confirmed that the bank’s current contingency planning for Brexit suggests it may need to relocate some 1,000 roles from London to Paris progressively over the next two years, depending on how negotiations develop.
